


One Day

by jenjaemrens



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Noren, Reincarnation, Suicide, a bit too dramatic tbh, characters commit suicide so if you're not comfortable please don't read, has a happy ending i swear, has character death btw, honestly so dramatic what was i thinking, kinda angsty i think?, little bit angst with a good ending, mentions of homophobic people, no homophobic slurs are used tho, nomin, norenmin, norenmin dont show much, renmin, there is a reason i tagged each ship separately as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 04:29:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17542709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenjaemrens/pseuds/jenjaemrens
Summary: 1385“And we will find each other again.”“One day we will all be together and then no one can separate us.”--1668“One day?”"One day we will be together again.”--1943“We’ll see him won’t we?”“Of course we will.”“One day?”





	One Day

**Author's Note:**

> Haven't done norenmin in a while and it's awful that me, a norenmin supremacist has only ever published one completed norenmin fic.  
> This was so dramatic I'm honestly cringing but oh well I can say that I did a reincarnation au with really dramatic effects. Mind you the first part is inspired a lot from romeo juliet angst.  
> This can get a bit confusing so please do read the end of notes where I'll try to explain it better.  
> Also I never really specified who is who in this au, (you'll get what I'm saying once you read it) which means you're free to imagine who is who but I may have mistakenly implied who is who according to what I imagined.

**_1385_ **

 

Everyone said it was wrong, it was a sin but they were in love. It didn’t matter if they weren’t supposed to be together. It didn’t matter that one of them was the future King of their land while the other was a mere servant. It didn’t matter that the said Prince was betrothed to the Princess of a neighbouring country so that their treaty will remain. What others said or wanted didn’t matter. Not when they both loved each other so much.

 

The Prince’s eyes were always on him when the others weren’t paying attention to him. The servant kept his head down whenever he was called, always observing the boy he loved with his head down. They ached to touch each other, look at each other, kiss each other but the punishment for this would be worse than death for the servant for the Kingdom couldn’t afford to lose their crown Prince. They would dispose of the the liability and the Prince would rather die than see his lover suffer.

 

It was only after dark when the entire Kingdom slept that they would both meet each other. The Prince would climb out of his room using the tree by his window while the servant boy would use the kitchen back door and then they would both make their way to the old garden in the northern wing of the palace. It was always unguarded and no one would ever see them there.

 

“You’re here.” Jaemin breathed when he saw Jeno appear from behind the bush with his beautiful smile.

 

Jaemin’s heart stopped every time he saw Jeno. God took his time when he created Jeno for the boy was the most beautiful person Jaemin had ever seen in his life. And just as he was beautiful, he was kind and giving. It made Jaemin love him even more. The boy never failed to make Jaemin feel warm, feel loved and above all make him feel like he mattered.

 

Jeno could see Jaemin’s pink hair even from behind the bushes. Others would look ridiculous with it but Jaemin looked so pretty that Jeno wanted to wrap him up and never let him go. Jaemin’s smile made Jeno’s heartbeat faster than the fastest horse in the Kingdom. He made Jeno a lovesick idiot for all his friends always asks him why did he look at the pink roses in the garden and smile like an idiot. Jaemin was the reason for his smile. This boy was all that made Jeno happy. Jaemin was his happiness.

 

They both moved forward towards each other and wrapped their arms around each other as they relished the feeling that they were close. They had each other now and that was all that mattered. They both looked at each other, smiling as their lips met softly. Kissing Jaemin made Jeno feel like he was finally home after a long day of work. Kissing Jeno made Jaemin feel like his heart would give out now and he would die here. They both pull apart and smile at each other.

 

Jaemin sits down on the grass and pulls Jeno down on the grass alongside him and they both look at the night sky, whispering sweet nothings to each other and what they would do if they would ever run away from the palace. But they both knew that saying things were easier than doing them for the King would never let his son run away with a boy. It was at times like this when they were alone that they felt as if something was missing. As if they didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle and there was one last piece needed to complete the picture. They dreamt of it sometimes at night when they slept, through the darkness someone calling their name but everytime they were about to say the name of the person calling them the dream would end and they would wake up.

 

Of course they never told the other about their dream. They never knew the other saw the same dream and felt the same emptiness. To them as long as they had each other it would be enough. They would be happy with that.

 

And so the boys spent another night under the stars holding each other, content with what they had but missing something, never saying it out loud. 

 

But it was okay. For now this was enough.

**

The day it all ended began like any other day. Both of them were busy with their own duties and missing the other. They were counting the hours until the sun would set and they would be free to see each other, hold each other and kiss each other. The nature would be the only one to know of them. At least that’s what they thought until the guards came in and locked the Prince in his room and marched towards the kitchen looking for the servant boy. The Prince banged on the door till he hurt his hand but his shouts were ignored. He knew what was happening and he feared for the boy he loved.

 

He quickly grabbed it from the box behind the the books on his third shelf and carefully made his way down to the tree. The guards underestimated him. Years of sneaking around to meet up with the boy he loved was enough training to guide him through the entire palace ground undetected. He knew they would never find his love because no one ever went to the northern garden. Many forgot it existed and he knew that was where he would be waiting for him.

 

And he was. The moment the boy saw the prince he rushed forward and hugged him, holding him as if someone would rip them apart. They would. Someone was trying to rip them apart and the prince would kill whoever would try to take his happiness away from him/

 

“What do we do Jeno?” They were both in tears and Jeno cupped Jaemin’s cheeks and leaned forward to kiss the younger boy. Jaemin kissed him back holding Jeno’s hands tightly as if the world was ending. Their world was ending.

 

“There is no point in life if you aren’t here with me. They will make an example of you my love.”

 

“You can live! Don’t be ridiculous! If my death means your life will be spared so be it.”

 

“And you would leave me here alone? With you gone there would be no more warmth, no more happiness in my life.”

 

“There is nothing we can do my love. We cannot run for they will catch us and torture us both.”

 

“Then they will make sure they never catch us. They will never separate us.”

 

And so the prince handed the boy what he was kept hidden. A vial filled with poison meant for the prince to defend himself if there was ever a time when he needed it. The servant boy took it and looked at the boy he loved. They both looked at each other and smiled. They wouldn’t be apart from each other. They would die together rather than let the world tear them apart.

 

“You are everything I ever needed in my life Jaemin. I would have loved to run away with you and build the life where we could live each other freely/” Jeno smiled as the tears flowed down his face,

Jaemin laughed, pulling the dark haired boy for another kiss, their last one. The look they shared was so pure, filled with love for the other and they both nodded opening the vial and each drinking half of it until the vial was empty. And now they would wait for the dark embrace of death to take their souls away from the cruel world.

 

They lay down on the grass as if it was night time and they were sneaking around again. They held each other closely, smiling happily for in death they would be together.

 

But as they waited for death the haze cleared and they both could see the voice that called them. The voice of someone who was waiting for them and someone they both unknowingly looked for. When the servant boy went to the market he’d look for it in the faces of the strangers he’d see there and the prince would look for it among the royalty that attended the galas. 

 

The realisation hit them and they both looked at each other worried for how it was too late to look for him now.

 

“It’s okay Jaemin.” Jeno whispered. “We will find him.”

 

“And we will find each other again.” Jaemin promised.

 

“One day we will all be together and then no one can separate us.”

 

“One day Jeno.”

 

And both of the lovers looked at each other one last time as the darkness enveloped them and took them away.

*

_ 1668 _

 

The artist glanced at the family and then back at his portrait, gently stroking the black paint on his canvas. A slip of his hand and the whole painting would be ruined. He didn’t want to ruin it and start all over again. Not to mention there was the thing of limited supplies while you were on a ship. He just wanted to get his pay so that when he’d have something when he starts to work in Rome.

 

“How much longer will it take for you to do the painting boy?” The man in the golden chair barked.

 

He was used to this daily question as he was used to hearing the matriarch of the family complain about how he was probably an incompetent artist. It was suffocating to be in this place with them. 

 

But a knock on the door, a gentle voice, a wave of hand and he was walking out the door. He passed the person who saved him from yet another day of hearing the rich talking as if they had a say on his talent. He brushed against the boy gently as he was leaving through the door, gripping the parchment he was slipped. He knew the message that would be written on it but it was what they had been doing since the start that it was safe for them to meet at night.

 

The kitchen boy glanced back at the retreating figure of the artist and smiled. It was not as though the crew or the passengers on board considered them important that they had to pass messages in secret when they would walk by each other or when they would eat and the kitchen boy would clean the dining area and find the small pieces of parchment painted in blue. It was something that was theirs.

 

They would meet in secret at night when the only one to witness them would be the youngest on board, Jisung who would pretend as if he was the only one onboard. Jisung would be rewarded with some of the more delicious meat that was kept on the side for the passengers and captain. 

 

In the cold sea winds they made each other feel warm whenever they were together holding each other. Just a glance, a smile, a caress, brushing the stray hair, the whispers of their dreams how one would be one of the best artists of this golden age called renaissance and the other’s dream to live a peaceful and fulfilling life on land. They were dreamers trying to reach for the stars and they would reach it together.

 

“How did you get away from the captain? I thought he had handed you the work of Lucas due to his illness?”

 

“Nothing can come in between a man and the love of his life.” 

 

Renjun leaned forward, smiling at the pretty boy in in front of him. Jaemin was always the loud one in public but when it was here under the stars with just the two of them he would remain silent as he listened to whatever Renjun would say.

 

This was their stolen moment. Their world under the stars in the night sky. The only time when they would ever truly smile.

 

Jaemin leaned in kissing Renjun softly on his mouth. He tasted sweet as if he had stolen some of the sweets kept for their master. Renjun would have scold him but Jaemin would laugh it off.

 

He always laughed. He was like sunshine, with his brightness and his ability to make everyone on board smile.

 

Jaemin would say that it was Renjun who was the reason for him making everyone happy. As long as Renjun was happy so was he and in turn everyone on board would be entertained by Jaemin.

 

They would stay together as long as they could but soon they knew they would have to return to their own cabins for fear that someone would discover them. 

 

Only when they were alone again would they feel the same loneliness and aching not just for each other but as if for something that was lost to them ages ago. Sometimes the artist would unknowingly draw a lone figure shrouded by the mist while the other would hear someone whisper his name when he would walk up on deck for a breath of the sea air. 

 

But it was their secret. Their own and so they both remained blinded to the fact that they were both seeing the same person.

**

He was locked in his small cabin. He couldn’t find a way out of here. He banged on the door and screamed for help. The only answer he got was the groan and cracking of the mast and the floor of ship. 

 

They had run into a storm and the door to his cabin wasn’t opening. He was going to die in this small cabin all alone. Would he even get a funeral? But why would he?  No one would even bother about his death. There was no one that knew about him. He was all alone in this world.

 

Renjun sat down on floor, staring out the small circular window inside his room. It was so loud. The thunders were deafening. He wished he could see the sea. He would have liked to die under the dark, cloudy sky rather than locked in this place.

 

He thinks about Jaemin and hopes that he escaped with the others. He hoped that Jaemin would have the life he wanted.

 

Until he heard what sounded like someone calling his name. Someone was banging on the door and calling him. And the only person who would do something like this is

 

“Jaemin leave!” 

 

“I will not leave without you! Hold on!” 

 

On the other side Jaemin picked up the axe and pounded it against the door. He didn’t tell Renjun that even if they could get get him out of the cabin they were stuck on the ship. The boats wouldn’t be waiting for a servant and a no name artist. They would die here but they’d be together.

 

“Jaemin stop.”

 

“No! We will leave this ship! We will get out of here!” 

 

“No we will not. There’s no one here except for us. Let’s stop.”

 

They’d never see Rome. They’d never go to plays or musicals. They’d never have their own little house. 

 

They would die here. 

 

Renjun could see it now, a boy whose eyes would crinkle up whenever he would smile. Jaemin could see the person calling his name.

 

Renjun stood up and looked at Jaemin through the hole the axe created and smiled at him. They both knew now what they were looking for.

 

“One day?” Jaemin asked, as the lightning flashed.

 

“One day.” Renjun promised. “One day we will be together again.”

 

The ship sank to the bottom of the ocean along with the two lovers who were smiling as though they were welcoming death.

*

**_1943_ **

 

The doctor closed his eyes as the blood splattered on his face. He shook his head when a nurse came forward to wipe the blood away. He was used to it now. The blood of soldiers on his body as if it were his own. He was a doctor in a war camp and this was how it was for him. Finally, after what felt like years to him, he nodded at the nurse and stepped aside.

 

He walked away from the camp clinic towards his own room. He passed by rooms filled with other soldiers or prisoners screaming or groaning in pain. He forgot what it was like to walk around and not hear the sound of gunshots or screams. His life was now filled with the cacophony of the screams of death.

 

He pauses before the building where the prisoners were kept and hesitates before entering. He shouldn’t be going here. He knew why he was walking there but he couldn’t stop himself even if it was wrong. The guards let him pass easily. Being the head doctor meant it was easy for him to meet the prisoners and he was easily let inside the highly guarded room alone.

 

“Was wondering if you’d visit me.” A smirk.

 

“Should not be so smug. I could leave.”

 

“You’d return soon after.”

 

“And why is that?”

 

“You and I both know why you’d come back here.”

 

They were both treading on dangerous waters here. The officials wouldn’t be happy at all if they knew their head doctor was in love with the spy of their enemy. They’d probably use the doctor against the prisoner if they found out he loved the doctor as well. They knew better than to be close during the war times but sometimes he would come here without intending to. Sometimes he would sneak in medicines and heal him even if the soldiers ordered them not to.

 

Sometimes they would lie down on bed the bed side by side, close enough to touch each other but never doing so. It was enough that they were close to each other and to be alive in such dangerous times. 

 

“Hey Jeno.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I’m glad you’re still alive.”

 

“No one is going to kill me. I’m too damn important to them.”

 

“Yes well I’m just saying. Don’t think I could stand being here if you died.”

 

It was funny. Jeno nearly laughed at Renjun for what he had said. They were both important to the soldiers. As a head doctor he was the most experienced in the field of healing near dead soldiers and as the spy of the enemy he was important because he had information on their enemy.

 

They started off as a doctor and patient. It was bothersome to deal with someone who only joked and flirted with him. It wasn’t even intentional but slowly he started liking the jokes and the small talk they had. 

 

The other boy liked the doctor since the day he saw him step forward when the head soldier in charge was about to stab him. He hadn’t know him but he stepped forward to save his life. It felt nice to have someone to talk to. Otherwise he’d have gone mad alone in this room. The soldiers aren’t very talkative.

 

“So what happened in the death house today?”

 

“It’s a camp hospital.”

 

“Where more people die than come out alive. It’s a death house. So who got all these blood on you? Nearly ruined your pretty face.”

 

A light smack and a soft cuss.

 

“Soldier. Shot multiple times and stabbed.”

 

“That sounds horrible. You know if I ever get kil-”

 

“Don’t say things like that!”

 

“I’m just saying it can happen you know. People here really hate me I would certainly not be surprised if they shot me one day.”

 

“I’d save you.”

 

“You can’t if they order you not to.”

 

“You can’t tell me what I can or can’t do.”

 

“You’d risk dying for me? Sounds awfully lot like you’re in love with me.”

 

“Sounds awfully like you care about me. Are you in love with me?”

 

They stared at each other waiting to see who would break first. They never did. They’d goad each other until they would see if any of them would admit it. But it was war and they were breaking the rules as it was. This was a territory they were scared to cross.

Jeno and Renjun were cowards but they were sensible to know that there things you could never say out loud for fear that other may use it to their advantage.

 

“Anything else happen at the death house?”

 

He hesitated. He remembers looking at one patient who had taken poison and for a second he thought he saw a boy with pink hair but then in the next second it was gone and no matter how hard he tried he could not remember what he looked like.

 

“Nothing interesting. You?” He shrugs and asks the boy in chains.

 

The boy in turn shrugs. “No. You know the guards are like. They don’t talk.”

 

He could have said that when the guard came to give him food he thought he saw someone else stand in his place for a while, smiling at him as if he was saying goodbye. It was gone in a second and he couldn’t remember what the boy looked like. He wish he did.

 

But they both lied to each other and kept on talking for the next hour until the lights in the cell slowly started glowing brighter indicating that it was nearing dark. 

 

They looked at each other, with the one in chains wanting to ask the other to stay with him and not leave him alone in this cold cell while the other wanted to tell him that he he would rather be here with him than his own comfortable room.

 

But in the end he had turned around and left.

**

The guards were lying on the floor, dead. He feared the worse and quickly opened the cell door and nearly cried when he saw that he was still alive, laying back down on the bed humming softly. He looked up when he heard someone enter. His smile quickly turning into a frown when he saw his doctor was crying.

 

“What happened?”

 

“They...they trapped us all here. There are too many people here who know their operations. They are go-”

 

“Going to wipe us all out of course.” A bitter, humorless laugh. He had expected he’d die in this war. Just not like this. He doesn’t think the doctor expected he’d die like this. “I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. It’s okay. They tried to take me with them but you-”

 

“You stayed back for me?”

 

“I won’t leave you alone. Call me a damn fool. Call me whatever you want. Mock me. But I won’t leave you here alone.”

 

“You’re right. You’re a damn fool. You should have left with them you ass!”

 

“I love you you dumbass! I’m not leaving you!”

 

“You’re a damn fool.”

 

“I know.”

 

It didn’t matter who pulled who. What mattered was that they were kissing and it tasted like salt and mint. It felt like they were finally free of all the shackles. It didn’t matter that they were about to die soon. What mattered was that they has each other even if it was for a few minutes. It was worth it. Holding each other, finally being able to say what was on their mind was more than enough. They kissed like they were kissing for the last time (they were).

 

“Took you long enough Jeno.”

 

“Don’t be a smart ass now.”

 

“Let me have my moment.”

 

“Never.”

 

Renjun laughed, leaning in and hugging the boy again.

 

“I love you Jeno. I wish that we met under different circumstances. Maybe at a party after the war was over and we’d both be drinking and you’d ask me to dance. Can you even dance?”

 

“Of course I can. I’m offended you’d even say that. Mind you I’m one of the best dancers.”

 

“I’ll take your word for that.”

 

They were laughing as if they weren’t about to die any second now. But they’d die smiling. At least the last few minutes of their life would be a happy one.

 

They could see the boy now. the one with pink hair who was dying and was talking them. They laughed. Of course it was him. It had to be him after all.

 

“You see him Jeno?”

 

“I do.”

 

“We’ll see him won’t we?”

 

“Of course we will.”

 

“One day?”

 

Jeno never got to answer because that was when the plane dropped the bombs on them and they died not knowing if they would ever see each other again.

*

**_2019_ **

 

It was fate. There was no other way to describe their meeting. It was fate that led them to each other on a rainy day where Renjun had his art project in hand while Jaemin had his assignment in hand. They didn’t have an umbrella but they needed to get to their classes as soon as possible and that’s when a boy with crescent eyes came in and saved them.

 

That was how they met. It sparked a friendship. And just like a love story it became more.

 

They joked about it that there life would be less dramatic if they never met each other but it was as if they could feel they were always meant to be. It used to be lonely but now it was warm. It was life and it was happiness.

 

It was the three of them together.

 

“Hey Jen Jaem?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I love you.”

 

“You’re so sappy sometimes Junnie.”

 

“It’s gross.”

 

“Stop trying to act like you don’t love us Jeno.”

 

“Yeah! Say it back Jeno!”

 

“No way.”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Okay okay I love you two.”

 

“Good because I love you two as well.”

 

“You know it’s gonna sound so damn weird but I feel like this is how it’s supposed to be. As if I found what I’ve always been looking for. You get me?”

 

They shared a smile because yes that’s what it felt like. They knew it. 

 

They belonged with each other and they finally had each other.

 

**Author's Note:**

> For those who do not understand it's simple. The three of them always reincarnate but one of of them is always missing except in the ending scene. And the other 2 would always feel as if someone was missing but it was only when they accepted that they were going to die would they remember the boy who wasn't there with them.  
> In the end they find each other and are happy. If the one who is missing ever reincarnated in the same year as them but separated? I don't know honestly.  
> I do realize this fic is awfully dramatic and I probably will never be this dramatic again but it was fun writing this fic.  
> Kudos and comments are highly appreciated.  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
